Author, maternal mental health advocate and mum of three Tracy Holmes joins Dominique this week for a conversation about motherhood, diagnosis and real resilience.

Tracy is mum to three boys, including twins Harry and Freddie. Shortly after they were born, Freddie was diagnosed with Down syndrome. What followed was one of the most difficult periods of Tracy’s life. With one newborn at home and another still in hospital, she found herself pulled between two worlds, all while she was navigating the shock of diagnosis. The pressure resulted in the quiet collapse of her mental health.

In this episode, Tracy speaks with the most extraordinary honesty about that year. The grief for the life she had imagined, the stigma around admitting struggle as a mother and the moment she realised she needed help. But she also speaks about the love that has grown since. About the bond between her boys, the joy Freddie brings to their lives and the way he has changed how their whole family sees the world.

She speaks about the power of language (Freddie has Down syndrome, he is not a Down syndrome child), and also about the gaps that still exist in Ireland for families raising children with individual needs. Something we both hope conversations like this might help change.

Tracy is extraordinarily strong. But what moved us most was her willingness to show the moments where she wasn’t. We are so grateful to her for sharing her story with us.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare.

Psychologist, author and mum of three Dr. Clodagh Campbell joins Dominique this week, for one of the most personal conversations of the season.

Dominique and Clodagh share powerful parallels in their lives. Both are adopted. Both lost their beloved fathers too early.

Together they explore how adoption can shape identity across a lifetime and why questions around belonging often become louder once we become parents ourselves.

Clodagh also opens up about her experience with postnatal depression. As a psychologist, she didn’t initially recognise the signs in herself. It arrived slowly and quietly, and by the time she realised what was happening she was already struggling.

The conversation also explores the nervous system, maternal exhaustion, the invisible cognitive load many parents carry and why small moments of awareness can make such a difference in our busy lives.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare

This week on IMAGE The Motherload, Dominique sits down with Coleen Rooney for a real conversation about family life.

Coleen opens up about her childhood, the loss of her sister Rosie, her and Wayne’s experience of miscarriage, and occasionally shouting at the boys in McDonalds. She shares the brilliant chaos of raising four boys, the realities of parenting in the public eye, and why family is ultimately so important to her.

This is Coleen Rooney in her own words.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare

This week on IMAGE The Motherload, Dominique is joined by Councillor Yemi Adenuga. Broadcaster, community organiser, mother of four and the first Black woman elected to public office in Ireland,

Their conversation covers Yemi’s extraordinary childhood as one of 27 children in Nigeria, her journey to Ireland, the realities of motherhood while building a public life, and the strength it takes to remain open hearted in the face of serious racism.

This is a powerful conversation about identity, resilience, and Yemi’s deep belief that people can change the world around them.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare

This week on IMAGE The Motherload, beauty editor, content creator and mum of two Triona McCarthy joins Dominique for an honest and often very funny conversation about modern motherhood.

Triona opens up about her ADHD diagnosis and how that shows up in her day-to-day life, the reality of parenting tweens, managing the mental load when your nervous system is already busy, navigating public visibility, and the lasting impact of losing her sister at just 30.

Plus, because she is Triona McCarthy, she shares the beauty and tweakment advice every tired mum needs.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare.

In this deeply honest episode of IMAGE The Motherload, Dominique McMullan speaks with award winning podcast host and coach Laura Guckian about the reality behind modern motherhood.

From her psychiatric hospital admission when her first baby was ten months old to her late diagnoses of autism and ADHD, Laura shares the moments that reshaped her life and her mission to support other mothers.

Together they unpack matrescence, maternal mental health, neurodivergent parenting and the practical tools every overwhelmed mum needs.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Revive Active, Avoca and Aptamil Advanced

In this episode of IMAGE The Motherload, recorded live last November, Dominique McMullan is joined by Tara Rafter, Rosemary MacCabe, Daniella Moyles and Danielle Garner for a down to earth conversation about why so many mums feel depleted and overlooked in their own lives.

They talk honestly about guilt, identity, exhaustion and the pressure to keep going, as well as the small, realistic ways they try to protect their energy and themselves.

If you’ve ever felt like you can’t seem to keep yourself on the priority list, this episode is for you.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Revive Active, Avoca and Aptamil Advanced

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In this episode of IMAGE The Motherload, Dominique McMullan is joined by Sonya Lennon for a conversation about what it really takes to create change for women and families in Ireland.

Together, they explore why issues like the childcare crisis and the gender pay gap cannot be solved by asking women to cope better, but by redesigning the systems that created the problems in the first place. As Sonya puts it, “We spend so much time reacting to the damage downstream. Real change comes when we throw the pebble further upstream.”

From workplace equity and flexible working to leadership, money and the invisible mental load carried by mothers, this episode invites listeners to look beyond individual struggle and towards collective responsibility. It’s a potent reminder that change is possible… when we ask better questions and build better systems.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Revive Active, Avoca and Aptamil Advanced

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.